The inner thighs are not the easiest part of of body to tone! It's hard to isolate them, without other larger muscles taking over. But there are some exercises in Pilates that target the inner thigh, and I'm happy to share a few with you.
1. The Bridge - Lay on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor, hip-width distance apart. Use your abdominals and your buttocks to lift the pelvis up off the mat, forming a diagonal line from the shoulders to the knees. Hold for one minute! Start to roll down from the upper body one vertebra at a time till your pelvis is on the mat.
2. Magic Circle - Same position but place the circle in between the inner thighs just above the knees. Press the circle together so that the knees and ankles are in line with each other; now lift the pelvis up to the bridge position. 3 sets, 10 reps each. Roll down the same way, one vertebra at a time.
3. Inner thigh lift - Lay on your side and place your top leg on the magic circle just above the ankle; place the bottom leg on the lower part of it. Align your body in a straight line: your shoulders and hips should be in line vertically and hips stacked on top of one another. Support your head with a bent arm, lift up so your elbow is not pressing into the mat, keeping your head straight with space in the neck. Lift the legs with the circle and move them slightly forward. Press down on the top of the circle and lift the inner thigh up to the top inside of the circle. 3 sets of 20. Really concentrate on the inner thigh and make it count!
4. In the same position on your side, remove the circle and straighten out your bottom leg. Take your top leg and bend it, bringing the foot flat in front of you on the mat and holding it at the ankle. Take your bottom leg and lift your inner thigh. 3 sets of 20.
5. Small Leg Circles - Adding on to the 3 sets of 20 on the last lift of the inner thigh, add small circles to the front and then reverse.
See you at Mat Class to work the inner thigh, plus much more.
